Walk Off Euphoria

Friday had finally come and I was more than grateful. The first week back after a week's vacation is always tough. I wish there was a way in which I didn't have to work summers, or at least no more than about three days per week,. In fact, that'd be ideal. Nonetheless, my current situation calls for me to work five days per week in a fairly stressful environment, so that will be what I do until change presents itself. I went to work with my brand new haircut in tow, and my work day went well. I was more than excited about the looming four day weekend. I ran at or about 12:45pm and it was an easy one. I left work for the day somewhere near 4:15pm - just a little early in an anticipation of a fun and exciting weekend. I thought that if I got home a little that I might be able to get a nap and get a jump on the numerous chores needing addressed. I saw Mindy heading home from the pool just as she was turning off Wilson onto Roberts Rd. She didn't see me. I was in my BM'er. After a nap and chores, I took several minutes to back-up my June pictures to CD. I had enough to fill two CD's. Just as I finished Mindy arrived with a handful of gear for the weekend. This would be a kidless weekend for Mindy, at least until late Sunday afternoon. After Mindy arrived, we hung out for a few and had a drink. We didn't prepare for Barley's until about 7:30pm. While took a shower to cure her pool hair, I watered my front yard flowers. We left for Barley's just after 8pm and arrived shortly there after. Bob and Mary Ann were already there finishing up their dinner. For a Friday, the population was rather sparse, but that's how it often is during summer months when so much is happening around town. Through the evening Josh and his ex-girlfriend Bre showed up, as did Paul & Dan. We passively watched the Reds and Indians, although through seven innings the Indians were putting a 7-0 hurting on the Reds. I joked through the night that it wasn't over and as it turned out, it wasn't. The Reds scored 9 runs over the final two innings, including a walk off grand slam to ice it 9-8. The word drama isn't dramatic enough to describe the electricity in the air. The pub erupted with joy as all the Indians fans decided they should convert. Well, OK, that's a bit much. After the game ended we paid our bill and headed home. It was a beautiful night so we took full advantage and got in the hot tub. We went to bed just before midnight after I choked down two Advil to ward off any possibility of a morning headache.

Alone Again, Naturally

In what seemed unusual, I woke feeling like a normal well-rested human being this morning. I netted close to 7 hours sleep and could feel the difference. The fog that has danced around in my head most mornings this week was noticeably missing. For this I was grateful. I went about my morning with an extra bounce in my giddiup. Exercise, coffee, walking Ykraps all were done by 6:05. I spent a relaxing 20 minutes meditating inside before hitting the ‘go’ button. After relaxing morning at home, I decided that driving the BM’er was in the cards today. I was low on gas and stopped at the new Thornton’s to fill-up. I hadn’t gassed the BM’er since last fall. Today’s price was $2.88 per gallon. It only has a twelve gallon tank, however. I enjoyed my ride to work. I didn’t leave the top down as I didn’t fully trust the sky, and we do have the chance of an afternoon thunder storm. Work was very busy. I had little time for anything other than … well, work. And it got really crazy late morning, so crazy that I couldn’t leave for lunch until 1:30pm. By then I was fried and frazzled. I was inundated with escalations. But, some how I managed. The late run served me well. The temperature today was struggling to top 80 degrees, so the heat wouldn’t be a factor. In fact, it was a downright beautiful day for a run. The run changed my perspective on things as it often does. The edge was gone! After my run I returned for more busy fun but that was OK. I worked hard through the remainder of the day. Just before laving I received an email from Bob asking if I‘d be up to golf on Sunday. I would, I replied. I had hoped to sneak away for a quick haircut but that was out. Instead I would do so immediately after work, which came quickly. I left the office at 5:10pm after one heck of a tough day. I decided to stop at First Choice Hair Cutter’s again. I half hoped there’d be a wait so I could peruse Home Depot while waiting. There was. She told me 30 minutes. Perfect! I ventured over to H.D. to look at a few items on my list – replacement door jams, clear plastic florescent light lense panels, & cabinets for my laundry room. After 29 minutes of shopping, I had found pretty much everything I needed. I hustled back to the hair salon. I waited another five minutes until she called my name. I sat nervously in the chair worrying about my BM’er sitting out there amongst other cars. I worry that it’ll get dinged. Michelle was very deliberate in her approach and took her time cutting my hair. She seemed very new but also seemed to be doing a good job. I chose to relax a little. When done, I was very pleased. I tipped her well and was on my way home. At home I quickly moved through my routine chores then slipped into my yard work attire. It was 6:30pm when I got started. I spent 2 hours out there completing all the necessary steps to bring my yard up to my own standards for beauty. After I finished up I took a quick shower then left for Kroger in Hilliard to pick up a few things – mostly booze! First, I planned to get Matt M, work buddy, a twelve pack for allowing me to borrow his guitar case for vacation travel. Secondly, I needed beer at home. Thirdly, I wanted to get Mindy some rum and pina colada mix, and then me some more raspberry Vodka & triple sec. I got it all. I spent $83. Yikes! It was nearly 9:30pm when I got back home. I wanted to be in bed soon so I hurried about putting things away and then gave Mindy a quick call. We didn’t talk long. She knew I wanted to be in bed early, and besides, her company was still there. After checking the Reds score, I went to bed. I would be asleep before 10:30pm.

24 years ago today...

Happy 24th Birthday Courtney!!!! Wednesday was supposed to be a nice day, but for many there was an abundance of fog around, but at my house there was none. There was a low sky, however. Too, I felt tired after only about 6 hours of sleep. Something’s got to give. I’m going to get my 7.25 hours tonight even if it kills me. Mindy and the kids were still sleeping when I popped out of bed. I went about my usual routine only trying to be extra quiet so not to wake any of them. I did my exercises and eventually worked through the morning stiffness that typically accompanies a tired under slept Jimmy. I walked Ykraps and returned for morning coffee. I did my usual but had breakfast inside at the PC since it was only about 60 degrees and no sunshine. After my breakfast and shower, I gave Mindy a hug goodbye and left for work. She was hoping to return to sleep for at least another hour. Meanwhile, I arrived to work and the things were thankfully calmer than the past two days. I left for my run around 1130am due mostly to a planned 1pm staff meeting. It was nice. It was only about 78 degrees come runtime. Plenty warm enough to run shirtless once again. I finished my run strong and sweaty. I was showered, dressed, and back in my office by 12:35pm. I had plenty of time to get prepared for the meeting. Good! The meeting went until almost 3pm. By then I was very hungry. I decided to eat my lunch even though we would be eating again at Barley’s sometime around 630pm. I woofed down my lunch but was still hungry after. That’s not always the case. The rest of the work day flew by and soon I was on my way home. I snuck in a fifteen minute nap before doing any of my evening chores because I was so sleepy. At 545pm I got cracking on walking Ykraps, washing my lunch containers, and making tomorrow’s coffee. Before departing, I uploaded Tuesday’s blog entry then changed into my comfy summer attire.. I didn’t drive the BM’er since the evening weather promised a thunderstorm even though it was sunny and clear now. A storm was moving in from about 25 miles to the west. Mindy and her friends, Diane and Gary were already at Barley’s when I arrived. As expected, they were one of only a handful of patrons there. Mindy met Diane when they used to teach together years ago. Gary’s her husband. And although they live in Minneapolis, they are Packer fans. Can you believe it? I didn’t order any alcohol since this was a school night for Jimmy. I drank ice water. Mindy had two margaritas, Gary drank some of Barley’s microbrew, and Diane drank Rolling Rock. We laughed and told stories for a while and also ordered some pub food. I had my usual Gates of Hell wings and we shared sauerkraut balls. Josh, my friend and guitar instructor showed up about half way through dinner. We talked about Comfest and his party (lives right around the corner). Invited us to his place for the fireworks, too. We shared more stories and hung out for another hour or so. During our stay, the predicted storm moved in and hammered the local area with heavy rain and lightening. After the rain let up we all left. Mindy left with her guests. I left alone. At home I spent about 45 minutes adding pictures to most of the pictureless vacation days published on my blog. There are still some holes to fill, however. I went to bed around 1030pm hoping for at least 7.0 hours of sleep.

Come on Weekend!

Happy 19th B-Day Joe ! Still a bit bleary eyed, I managed myself out of bed at 5:35am ready to get after my second day back in the office. I had captured only about 6 hours of sleep and the sleep I gotten wasn’t all that fulfilling. Still, I had mountains needing climbed so I moved forward. As usual, I choked down a vitamin, did my sit-ups and push-ups, and walked Ykraps. I took special note that it was 6:06am by the time we returned from our walk. The first cup of coffee went down smoothly and tasted especially good. I used my new Chocolate Caramel creamer along with whipped cream, Splenda, and caramel topping. I enjoyed that first cup on the deck, but did my morning meditation in the house in my usual spot. I did exceptionally well at letting go of my cluttered thoughts for about twenty minutes. I needed that. After making my lunch and eating my breakfast, I was ready to hit the shower still with plenty of time to spare. I left the house destined for work at around 7:40am. I called Mindy on my way to work where it was obvious by her tone that I woke her from her own slumber. She didn’t seem to mind, however. She had a busy, but fun agenda planned for her day. She was entertaining a good friend and her child, along with picking up her nephew Joe’s B-day card & present for his birthday party being held at her sister’s house. I would be joining her there after work. She’s got something cooking each day all week long. Work was busy. Soon, however, my lunch time rolled around and I was outside on my run. I ran without a shirt as the temperature soared unexpectedly upwards of 90 degrees. The sun made a surprise appearance after the local forecasters predicted otherwise. They are never that close for too long. Still, even with the added warmth and sun, it was no match for the Florida weather I had ran in all of last week. I loved that. After my run and during my lunch I did a little poking around for airfares and reservations at one of many local state parks to fill-up some of the many long weekends I have scheduled yet this summer. I could likely get a campsite but getting a cabin or a spot in a lodge was slim. On the airfare front, to my surprise, Delta is offering some unbelievably low airfares to Tampa in August further tempting me to return for one of my long weekends. They have roundtrip non-stop flights for $113 and that’s with all taxes! Wow! I didn’t pull the trigger because I hadn’t talked it over with Mindy and hadn’t had her OK it with her brother, but it is awful tempting. We’ll see! The afternoon of work went fast as we were busier than ever. I next time I looked at the clock it was 5:10pm. I could hardly believe it. I shut down my machine and headed out of the building by 5:15pm destined for home. There I would be completing my routine chores then heading to Jody, Mindy’s older sister’s house, for her nephew’s party. After checking the weather radar I decided that I would be driving the BM’er. I was excited about the prospect of driving the BM’er since I hadn’t driven it when it’s been this clean in a long time. It was about 84 and sunny when I left – perfect! I made it to the party at about 6:25pm. Everyone else was already there. Mindy understood that I would be a little late and I think that she had only been there for about ten minutes herself. The party was fun – mostly family along with a few of Jody and Larry’s close friends. They served brats and hot dogs, pasta salad, and of course, birthday cake (brownies & cheesecake). We hung out there until right around 9pm. I asked Mindy if her and the kids wanted to stay at my house again tonight. They accepted. Jacob ended up riding with me in the BM’er. Mindy and Bella made a planned pit stop at her house to pick up a few things before coming to my house. While we waited for them, Jacob and I walked Ykraps in the back yard where we came upon two kids fishing in the pond under my weeping willow. They were polite and permitted Jacob to partake and hang out. I went ahead and finished walking Ykraps and then took to playing my guitar on the deck. The mosquitoes were vicious. I must have gotten bit ten or twenty times as dusk was setting in. As the sky got darker, we decided to head in to avoid being eaten alive. Still no Mindy. Jacob and I went out front to site. About five minutes later Mindy arrived. After both kids chased down lightning bugs for about five minutes, she got them ready for bed. It was already well after 10pm. It was 11pm before the two of us got in bed. Crap! It looks as if I’ll miss another opportunity to get a good night’s sleep.

Hi Ho - Hi Ho It's Off to Work I Go

Are you kidding me? Was it time to get up already? The clock said 7:55am which translated to 5:38am EDT (my bedroom clock is set 2.25 hours fast). I wasn’t dreaming. It was, in fact, time to get up & get going. Hey! And who's that? Oh yeah, it's Mindy that lies there beside me, and her kids are just down the hall, each in a room of their own. We didn’t get to bed until after 11pm the night before and I was paying for it with a case of the sleepy’s. I was a little extra quiet in my initial prep being mindful not to disturb their slumber since I was the only one in need of rising so early. I shook off the desire to sleep longer and popped out of bed knowing that the only way to shed the sleepies was to get a move on. Each of my exercises routines seemed a bit tougher than usual and my weights felt twice as heavy. That’s wasn’t too surprising, however, since I didn’t lift the entire week in Florida. My head continued in the funk all the while walking with Ykraps under a gray, cool sky. The sunshine from the weekend had given way to some thick clouds. Back at home I went about my usual routine of coffee, meditation, and food prep. Just as I was walking out onto the deck with my breakfast I was confronted by Bella who was already up and about. It was only 6:55am. She asked for her mommy. When I told her that she was still asleep she bolted upstairs to jump in bed with her. After finishing my breakfast I sent Mindy an email that I figured she’d get once home later in the day. She did a fabulous job taking care of me on our trip and I wanted to thank her in writing. At 7:05am I found my way to the shower where I tried unsuccessfully not to disturb Mindy & Bella. But that’s almost impossible given that my master bath has a pass through walkway and a ¾ wall. The sounds of me peeing, brushing my teeth, and showering can be heard quite clearly. I continued on as normal and when I was done, Mindy and Bella came down stairs with me. I had already prepared a cup of coffee for Mindy. I was waiting on the island counter. Mindy brought part of my bedding down to wash, and planned on doing the rest throughout the day. It was new in February but hasn’t been washed since. You’d think it was grimey but it wasn’t. After all, I’m always clean when I get in bed. At 7:40am I kissed Mindy goodbye and then left for work. Traffic was fairly heavy but moving steadily. It felt kind of odd driving to work and in some respects felt like it had been a month, but in reality it had only been nine days. My biggest fear was that I had forgotten something important like my keys, laptop, or badge, but none of that was true. I had everything I needed. The morning progressed quickly and before long I was back in the saddle I had rode of on two Friday’s ago. I had almost 1000 emails from the nine days to filter through. I spent a greater part of the morning just getting through them. Then, after a little rumor control, I left for my run. My run as you might expect was a little tough too since I was still a little tired. After the five miles I felt pretty good, though. It was 83 degrees, overcast, but only mildly humid. It certainly paled in comparison to the Florida humidity. If nothing else, I told myself, the Florida running served as good summer conditioning. I was headed back to my office at 2pm. Along the way I ran into Carmen who’s now as big as a house! She’s pregnant. We stopped and chatted briefly. She said that she had dreamt of me the night before, and that I had gotten married in a “drive thru”. What? About then my boss came around the corner (the first I had seen him all day). We chatted briefly then I headed to my office and he to an apparent meeting. The afternoon moved by swiftly. Before I knew it, it was 5pm and time to head home. I had given thought to grocery shopping before heading home since I am out of just about everything. But when I called Mindy she was already on her way to my home, and I knew that if I stopped at Wal-Mart that I wouldn’t be home until 6:45pm at the earliest. I decided instead to grocery shop after she left for the evening. At home I quickly unloaded my gear, put my running clothes in the dryer, prepped tomorrow’s coffee, then leashed up Ykraps. Mindy pulled up just as he and I were laving for our walk. She joined us. She looked very nice in her jeans and black Barley’s tee-shirt sporting her new sun tan. We had already decided on having taco salad for dinner and Mindy brought most of the fixins’ from home. As I sorted through a seemingly endless pile of mail, Mindy began prepping our meal. It was ready a short time later. Both of us were getting back to our low carb diets after a week of some deliberate back sliding. After our dinner we sat on the deck talking. I dozed off and Mindy went inside to look at vacation pictures. I had taken about 250. When she came back out we talked about the week and the weekends plans. We have a number of ideas: camping, boating, a date, nothingness, or working on the house/yard. Mindy is like an event coordinator. She’s always got something brewing. Me, I am one of those who seeks to leave my calendar as clear as possible. It’s just my nature. But I am adjusting, and so is she. Come 8pm Mindy decided to leave early in part so I could get on with my grocery shopping. Just as she was leaving I received a call from Lou, my insurance agent asking if I had opened, signed and returned Lindsey’s insurance policy paperwork. I hadn’t but told him that I would do it tomorrow. As soon as Mindy left I left for the grocery. I was at Wal-Mart for 1.25 hours. I was able to knock off my Home Depot list there too. I needed poison ivy killer and a new weed digger since my old one had lost its wooden handle. $130 later I was on my way home. One of the down sides to shopping at Wal-Mart is that there is never a guarantee that they’ll have the same food item they had the last time you wee there. And the fact that I am a creature of habit that really bothers me. I am a brand loyal shopper too. Plus, if you want microbrew beer or any new items, you might as well plan to shop elsewhere. There gig is not having the latest greatest. Instead, they survive on low pricing the staples by buying large quantities. By the time I was home it was 9:45pm, and by the time I had placed all the groceries in their proper place, It was after 10pm. I talked to Mindy for a short moment then quickly updated my blog for the past few days since I had them all written. I also took the time to download the wedding pics from Saturday. I didn’t however, upload any photos to the blog, but I will very soon. By the time I went to bed it was after 11pm again. I felt as if I had drank some coffee or eaten some chocolate but hadn’t. I resorted to turning on the tele to help usher in sleep. It worked.

Half way to Xmas - Anchor's Away

Glenn – Happy 48th B-Day! I woke a couple of times through the night and even considered getting up at 6:00am to get a serious jump on my day. I fought that urge, however and ended up sleeping until just about 7:15am. I was hopeful that the sky would be clear & blue just as the morning before since we had hopes of boating today. A glance out the window confirmed that it was. Without much hesitation I tucked my toes under the sofa’s edge and whipped out my sit-ups. Within fifteen minutes I had completed all of my exercises, started the coffee and was headed out the door with Ykraps. Jacob was up and milling about while I was preparing to walk out the door. I asked him to join us on our walk, and he did. We were out for about ten minutes. Ykraps enjoyed himself and took his dear old time. Once we returned, Mindy and Bella were up and about. I poured the both of us some coffee and Mindy made the kids a bowl of cereal. Just after 8:30am I left for my run. Like a few other times recently, I took the Trabue to Hague Ave route along the golf course then south to Western Run. I love that run. Once back home we discussed our boating plans and strategy. Jacob and I would go retrieve the boat and Mindy and Bella would go to Kroger to pick-up boating snacks. That plan worked well. Jacob and I were back well before Mindy and Bella, so we took the time to ready the boat. We started it to ensure that it would run, place some textured safety tape on the wheel wells of the trailer to prevent slips, and then loaded the anchors and additional life vests. Just as we were wrapping up, Mindy returned with the snacks. We loaded the cooler and beelined for Alum Creek. We stopped for ice along the way since Mindy had forgotten to get some while at Kroger. We arrived at the lake around 11:40am. The drive goes really quick – about 30 miles door to door. To my surprise, there wasn’t a line at the dock to put-in. More often than not there’s a line at least 5 or 6 boats deep. Mindy did a good job being my dock mate, and the kids were cooperative and boarded the boat before we put it in the water. That made things easier for Mindy since she didn’t have to keep a watchful eye on them while tending to the boat. The boat started without incident and soon we were off on our Sunday boat outing. First we circled the immediate area then headed towards the boat swim area as we often do. The lake was extremely choppy despite the relatively calm weather and low number of boats. Both the kids & Mindy, I think, were a bit surprised at the bounciness of the water. Soon we were at the route 36 boat swim area. There were probably fifteen boats already back there, which really isn’t that many. We headed towards the very back. About half way back I took notice of a seemingly familiar face in a Sea Ray already docked. It was Steve Androw, a friend and ex co-worker, & family. We exchanged hello’s but kept proceeding to our final destination. As we anchored, Steve & family made their way back to where we were. We ended up anchoring together and hanging out for the better part of the afternoon. I introduced Mindy and the children to Steve and his family. Steve has a daughter, Madison who’s ten, and a son, Cameron, who is 6. He and Jacob hit it off swell. After about 1.5 hours in the swim area we pulled anchor and headed towards the beach. The beach seemed much hotter which was probably due to the sand. The kids liked the idea of building and playing in the surf. Plus, there was a mother load of fresh extra fine beach sand mounded up for the kids to play in. My guess is that they have/had it there for a sand castle building contest. We stayed at the beach for about an hour. Steve and family left and headed for the dock around 3:20pm. We took another leisure ride around the lake before doing the same. I was worried about pulling the boat out of the water knowing from past experience just how hectic it can be. I had few options since Mindy had never as much as driven a boat. But as we approached the marina there didn’t appear to be much of a line at all. So, I pulled up towards the dock first thinking that I’d simply tie off then get the trailer. Last minute Mindy agreed to drop me off and pull back out until it was my turn. That’s how you’re expected to do it. Mindy dropped me and back out to the lake with little if any trouble. There was only one trailer in front of me as I pulled around, but he waived me around for not being ready himself. In the end, I could’ve simply tied the boat off to the dock after all. No worries, I backed the trailer and Mindy began circling the boat towards the trailer. A closer look revealed that she was having some trouble. The boat had stalled and subsequently she was drifting slowly towards the rocky side of the dock area. I was beginning to fret the potential disaster and could only visualize the worst – the lower unit getting bashed against the rocky terrain. After many tries she finally got the boat started again, and regained control of the boat. I couldn’t blame her, though. She had never even driven a boat. She guided the boat without incident into the dock where I was able to commandeer it onto the trailer. Trouble averted! After pulling out we pulled off to the side and readied the boat for travel by stowing the gear and placing the boat covers. We were on our way by 4:45pm headed for Lee’s RV and Boat Storage. We stowed the boat with no trouble at all, and soon found ourselves back at my house with two sleeping kids. Mindy had already contemplated our dinner and decided on hot wings since we hadn’t had any for about ten days. Te kids slowly woke and asked to watch a movie. They watched Elf. I grabbed my book and tried taking a short nap. I slept for about ten minutes tops. After waking and while the wings baked in the oven, I proceeded to light the grill and top the coals with some mesquite chips. I like doing the final five or ten minutes on the grill to give them a crunchier texture and a bit of a smoked flavor. Mindy has come to like that too. Soon we were enjoying some of the best wings ever made along with a delicious garden salad. Some time before starting dinner Pat, my neighbor, called and invited us over for a visit. We accepted. After cleaning up our dinner mess we grabbed a drink and walked over to Pat & Lisa’s. There backyard is much like mine in that it’s a little slice of heaven. To the kids pleasure, they have a nice little pond stocked full of gold fish and a tree swing strung from a bow about 50 feet up. The kids really enjoyed that. As I often do, we stayed at pat’s until late given that it was a Sunday and a ‘school’ night. But we had fun visiting. Mindy and the kids had already decided to stay the night at my house again. So once we walked home we were all in bed in short order. I was exhausted from the weekend of travel, exercise, boating, and yard work.

My Own Bed at Last

I landed, or, no, I mean I got up at 8:08am. I slept well and wasn’t disoriented in the least. I was home and alone for the first time since last Friday morning, or eight days ago. I was in good spirits and happy to go about beginning my weekend vacation at home. I had done little if anything except for walking Ykraps when I got home last night. The first thing I did was dig my toothpaste from my luggage and brush my teeth. Soon I was going about my general morning routine of exercise, walking Ykraps, and making coffee. I hadn’t lifted any weights for the past six days. Naturally, they felt heavier than I remembered. The weather was spectacular. The sky was a brilliant blue and the temps were in the mid 60’s, and there was no humidity, at lest compared to what we had just come home from. The air even felt a little chilly. After completing my morning walk I enjoyed coffee on the deck while quietly reviewing the day ahead and reflecting on the week that just was. Today I was hopeful of washing my BM’er and completing my weekly yard work before readying myself for the 5:30pm wedding Mindy and I were planning to attend. After the loose planning and coffee I gave Mindy a call to see how her morning was progressing. We didn’t talk long though and soon I was putting on my running shoes and out on the old trail. After my run I was very eager to get started on my chores. I decided It’s be best if I washed the BM’er first given that the yard chores could conceivably consume my entire day. Just as I was beginning Mindy called back frustrated that her A/C was not working. I assumed perhaps a leak and directed her how to check. Long story short, it appears to have been nothing more than a clogged filter. Soon I was out washing the BM’er. I took my time washing it. It was dirtier than it‘s ever been. I spent a good 1.5 hours on the detailed cleaning. When I was done I took just a short break before breaking out the lawn tools and getting started on the yard. Mindy arrived sometime between the BM’er and the lawn. She was planning to do some reading and relaxing on the deck but once she saw my house she decided to do a little cleaning inside. It took me about 1.5 hours to complete the usual lawn routine. But I was determined to get a few of the non-routine yard chores done too. I wanted to apply weed killer, hand pull some weeds, trim the wild grapevines along the pond, and gather up all the dead rose petals and leaves. I spent the next hour doing all of those things. Mindy forced me to eat some snacks to keep me going and give me some much needed energy. If she hadn’t I likely would’ve worked straight through. Around 3:50pm we went inside to begin getting ready for the Lesa Pettit’s wedding. Mindy’s ex, Jim showed up around 4:30pm with the kids as expected. Fifteen minutes later we were on our way to the church – Parkview Methodist. As we pulled up to the church Mindy recalled that the hilltop bean dinner was this weekend too. The park (Westgate) was packed. The wedding was slated to begin at 5:30pm and pretty much did. It lasted just over 30 minutes. Soon we were destined for the reception which was being held at Raymond Golf Course – right across the street from my housing development. It had turned out to be a beautiful evening. The temp was hovering close to 80 and the sky crystal clear -a great evening for a wedding and reception. The reception was fun, and their were lots of familiar Westside faces. We stayed at the reception until about 9:15pm. After a short ¼ mile drive home, Mindy and the kids decided to spend the night at my house in part to make our planned boating expedition that much easier early the following morning. After walking Ykraps, the kids and I went out back to catch lightning bugs. It was a great summer night for it. Of in the distance, we could hear loads of fireworks being set off signifying for me the beginning of the Fourth of July celebration. We got the kids to bed sometime after 10pm, certainly late by their standards. This was there first sleepover at my house. One other time the kids were too afraid after getting in bed so they all ended up going home. This seemed to be going much smoother. It probably didn’t hurt that we had just spent an entire week all together either. After the kids were asleep Mindy and I got in the hot tub. It felt perfect! After a couple of drinks, we headed to bed ourselves.

Leaving Tampa

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard from the flight deck... My fore father's... My head's in the clouds. Here we are at the airport anticipating a good flight home. So far the most interesting thing that happened was when we returned our rental car. We were told that there was only $80.53 worth of charges and that it was likely some mistake, and that he could not give me a receipt. Hmmm? I can't help but think this will end up in some sort of mess. I told Mindy as much. There was little sense in arguing over it now, however. We're heading home after 6 days in the sun. More... As we sit here in the terminal awaiting our flight (while i type this) , our departure time just has been bumped back 45 minutes to 7:30pm in lieu of the original 6:45pm. I hope that's it!The day started for all of us a little earlier than all the others. We were all out of bed by 7:15am eager to begin our last day here in sunny Florida. I had my exercises behind me, a cup of coffee and some blogging done well before 8:00am. I left for a run at about 8:30am and made it a long one. I took John's advice and ran back through Starkey State park which is a lot like Alum Creek but in Florida. It was very jungly. I was gone for almost and hour.When I returned I was very, very hot. Ceremoniously, I jumped immediately into the pool. I could feel the body heat leaving me almost in an instant. And just like all days prior, breakfast was ready. Mindy is such a good mother and girl friend. I am getting spoiled to be sure.The kids were a little fussy this AM. but then again, I expected it after 6 days in the sun and pool. After breakfast i did a little packing and cleaned up a lot of the mess we had made before heading out to the sun and pool. I was in my chair with a cool drink by 11:00am, and so was Mindy.We hung by the pool the rest of the day until about 2:45pm when I went in to shower and finish packing. Sometime around 1pm Jacob and I went on a lizard hunt. We found plenty but couldn't quite manage to catch one of those little beasts. We tried several more times but always failed. It's just as well. They generally don't live long back in Ohio. We continued to graze on the food we had bought for our trip and continued cleaning our mess as we went not wanting to leave Craig and Jeff's house a mess. Our goal was to leave it the same or cleaner than when we arrived. It is a beautifully taken care of home. We washed all the bedding and towels we used last.By 4:05pm we were all packed, loaded, and ready to go. I could tell Mindy was a little sad, but so was I. We had a lovely time minus the Disney experience (kidding). But... we've got to go home to start building a lifetime of vacations, memories, and fun! Off we went.We stopped at the Hess Gas station to fill the tank on our rental which was just outside the housing development. Soon we were on the toll highway destined for TPA. Our flight took-off from Tampa just after 7:30pm as promised. It was smooth take-off and a smooth flight all the way home. Both kids slept most of the way. It’s always funny coming home – a bit of the time warp effect. No sooner did we land then Ashley phoned to check on our status. She indicated that she’d be heading home instead of waiting up for me. After gathering up all of our luggage we made our way to the Blue lot shuttle where we would be whisked back to familiar surroundings. I took Mindy and the kids home first. Once there, I helped unload their gear, made sure Mindy was comfy, and then left for my own home. It’s always a pleasure arriving home after being away for awhile, and that’s why I always insist on cleaning the house before I leave. I don’t want to spoil that sensation. Nothing like returning home to a bright, cheery, clean home. The house, the yard, and Ykraps all seemed to be in good working order. Nothing out of the amiss or out of the ordinary. GREAT! The first thing that I did was walk Ykraps even though Ashley indicated that she’d already addressed his evening walk. More than anything, I just wanted to reacquaint myself with the yard. The flower all seemed well soaked (great job Ash!) and the lawn looked lush, although it was dark. The recent rain here in Columbus seemed to do the trick. After a drink of water and securing the home I went to bed. What a feeling it was to snuggle up on my own mattress!

Golf & Swim 2

The native birds are rather colorful & large in Florida. Airfare & car rental to get to the sun - $1000, another $100 to block it. Up once again at 7:15am. After exercise and some coffee on the lanai, I prepared for another tropical morning run. Today I took yet another path allowing me to see even more of the local area. I kept an eye out for gators since John told me that they frequent the local golf course ponds. I didn’t see one. I checked out a couple of new build homes along the way too. I’ve always wanted to move back to Florida, and my visit reaffirms that. Essentially, it’s like endless summer. After all, I can always fly home for some CGDD. After returning from my run, Mindy once again had breakfast all but ready – French toast, sausage, and fruit. It was delicious. Before sitting for food however, I jumped headlong into the pool. After a hot morning run nothing sounds or feels better at that very moment. We ate then hung by the pool all day long once again. We mixed up blender drinks and played with the kids in the pool until almost 3pm when it was time once again for me to ready for a late 18 holes of golf with John Bradford. John showed up right at 3pm and we were off for our round. It was even hotter today than the day before. The sky was more cloud free too. Both of us out did our scores from the day prior. I shot a 93 and john shot an 87. I drove tremendously but couldn’t hit easy second shots worth a damn. I was consistently poor from 80-90 yards in. Oh well, that’s golf! We finished tuckered after only three hours. Again, the play went really fast. We had the course to ourselves. John didn’t have the energy to come in and drink wine with Mindy and I. I think the kids drive him a little battie. I understand. Mindy was in the process of getting the kids their dinner when I returned. They ate then Mindy readied them for bed. They were in bed by 7:45pm. I left to get us a pizza and to pick up a few items to tie us over through the last night and day of our stay. We got an Amici’s pizza. And while we enjoyed the first couple pieces, we could hear Bella stirring in her room. Mindy went and got her since we know how much she loves pizza too. While eating pizza I was feeling tired and it was only 8:40pm. Mindy thought that I might be dehydrated. I was. I drank three very large glasses of ice water and felt a whole lot better. We ate another slice of pizza each then decided to get to bed early. We were in bed at 10:00pm – no kidding!

Golf & Swim - First Day of Summer

Looking for & finding amphibians Golf & Swim The thought of lounging aimlessly by the pool sounded so tempting the day before. It represents what vacations are supposed to be all about – relaxation. I was up at 7:15am which seems to be my casual wake time. After exercise, run, and breakfast, my primary activities would be lounging by the pool then golfing late in the afternoon with Jeff’s father, John. We did just that. We lounged by the pool all day. We played, dunked, swam, and drank yummy frozen drinks. We made some frozen Raspberry Vodka’s & frozen Pina Colada’s. The sun was hot and I was very, very pleased. John called sometime around 2pm to let me know that he’d be over to pick me up around 3pm. He was on-time. Since Craig & Jeff’s house is essentially on the golf course, the drive to the country club was minimal. About a ½ mile down the road. Apparently, late afternoon golf is not a hot commodity in Florida. It looked like we might have the entire course to ourselves. The cost- $23 a piece and that was with a cart. Unbelievable! The course was beautifully designed but favored a right hander with water hazards on the left on almost every hole. Spanish moss was draped from most trees and jungles were in abundance. It was really pretty. Many tee–boxes required a drive through part of the housing development after leaving the prior green. The only knock on the course, which they could do nothing about were the dry pond beds. This particular area of Florida has been rain deprived for months. John told me that there are typically several alligators hanging along the ponds. There were none to be seen today. Eventually, I worked the kinks out of my drive and found my drivers sweet spot. My score was 96. Not great but not bad either. Because t he course was almost empty, we played the course in about 3 hours. That’s about as fast as ever. When we got back home we cracked a couple bottles of wine that John made. They were tasty! John headed home around 7pm, and Mindy put the kids to bed. We stayed up and had a late dinner by the pool. We were in bed by 11:00pm.

Dis-mal-ney World

The Disney Experience: We had talked of getting up at 6am, well at least me, to exercise and the run. Our goal was to leave the house at 7:30am destined for Disney World. But I didn’t get up until 6:38am. I quickly made some coffee, finished my exercises, and then woke Mindy. I didn’t leave for a run until almost 7:10am. She told me to not worry about the time since we are on vacation and have no ‘real’ schedule. I took her advice. The run was very pleasant given the earliness. The sun was just rising above the horizon and the houses. The humidity hadn’t yet kicked in which made for a more than beautiful morning. By the time I returned breakfast was ready. We were having scrambled eggs and maple bacon. We took our time once again figuring that we wouldn’t be there before the parks opening anyhow. But according to the webpages about Disney, it’s not uncommon to wait in an hour long line to get admission tickets and that’s after parking. We were just a bit concerned but decided to not allow that to sway our schedule. We just left when we were ready. We hit the road at 9:00am destined for Buena Vista, Florida – Disney World. The trip was mapped out to be 97 miles via RT 54, I-75, and I-4. The highway was almost perfect and the traffic light. We made excellent time. Even after making a stop at a rest area, we made it to Disney by 11:00am. After parking in Minnie Mouse 43 we proceeded to the shuttle. The shuttle took us to the Disney Transportation & Ticket Station. There we purchased our admission - $245. From there we jumped on the monorail and headed for the Magic Kingdom. The time from parking until we were in the park was less than 30 minutes, and that was after the shuttle, buying tickets, riding the monorail and entering through the gates. Not bad at all! There were no waits at any stage thus far. Our first stop was the castle where we witnessed the coronation of Cinderella as Princess – very tacky. The kids loved it, however. The sun was heating up and sweat began pouring off of all each of us. We moved on to the first attraction – Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. It might just be the largest artificial plant in the world. From there we moved on to ride the Pirates of the Caribbean. Sorry – under construction. Is this how the day will go? Hmmmm. From there we moved over to the Magic Carpet. Mindy and the kids rode, I did not. I wasn’t ready to puke so soon. Next we moved on to Frontier land where we found Splash Mountain. The line was long so Mindy Fast Passed it. That assured us a trip to the front of the line between 3:45 & 4:45pm. It was only 1 something. To not bore readers, we moved on to the haunted Mansion, lunch, the Dumbo ride, the Carrousel, Small World, and then back to Splash Mountain. Bella wasn’t tall enough to ride so I took Jacob. After we finished, Mindy rode with him again. The kids were remarkably well behaved and only asked to leave a couple of times. Bella for being only three was being a surprisingly good walker. She never did ask to be carried, but Jacob did. That was a big – NO! From there we moved to Tomorrow Land where Space Mountain, Buzz Light Year, and the Lito & Stitch Ride reside. We rode the Buzz but no others. Lines were long and not worth the while. About now I was ready to go home and drink a beer or three. I had not more Disney fun left in the tank. The kids had said they wanted to leave too, but after buying their souvenirs, they wanted to stay for the parade. How could I veto that? After all, this is their day. That didn’t mean I was excited or happy. While Mindy and the kids gathered at the parades beginning area 9 beginning of Main St.) I wandered the are checking out exhibits on my own. I checked out a photographic exhibit that held all sorts of historic pieces in the life of photography as well as some of the first ever Disney cartoons. I saw Steamboat Willie – the first Disney animation with sound. Then Trees and Flowers, the first Disney cartoon in color. Cool! I found my way back to the kids and Mindy. The parade was just about to begin – Thank heaven! The parade was fascinating I must admit. And Main Street was lit up beautifully. The castle at its end was changing hues every few minutes from pink to blue. By 9:30pm the parade was over. I asked Mindy if she wanted to stay for the fireworks. She did not. Again – than k heaven. To our car! First the monorail, then the shuttle, and finally our car at long last! The traffic out was almost non-existent. We were out and home before midnight. What a long day. Once we arrived home and got the kids to bed, I went out on the patio for two Sam Adams. I was craving them both. We didn’t go to bed until almost 1am. Tired! Disney Happy Meter : Ease of Access: easier than expected 9 Cost: expensive 4 Food: better and cheaper than expected 6 Entertainment Value: If it wasn’t for the parade and Disney mystique it would have been a 1, but because it was Disney I’ll give it a 5 Weather: Hot – 10 Arriving back home: Priceless

Beach Day

The Beach at John K. Rees Memorial Beach & Park Clouds & rain dominated the mid-afternoon. late after noon the sun returned Pina Colada's, Steaks, Etc. More to come... Monday at the Beach – Robert K Rees Memorial Beach I woke around 7:30am and just like the day before I did my 55 sit-ups and 50 push-ups before running or even having coffee. There are no free weights (barbells) available so I didn’t lift. After a couple of cups of coffee I readied for my run and headed out once gain a different direction from that which I was familiar. Iran along Little Rd or along the golf course that winds around the housing development we’re staying in. Upon my return Jeff’s father, (Mindy’s brother-in-law’s father) was at the house on his bicycle. He stopped to make sure we were comfortable and had everything we needed. He pointed out a couple of cool beaches. So far it was sunny and hot. But let’s not be mistaken. The morning’s biggest story was the repressive humidity that I so love. And running in it only accentuates my love for it. John gave us directions to John K Rees Beach which is only ten/fifteen minutes from the house – or about 5 miles. We both understood that there were much prettier beaches all within an hours drive but we also knew that a three and six year old can change their plans on a dime. We wisely decided on John K Rees Beach. So, after packing a simple cooler, some towels, and other gear, we were off to the beach. We followed the directions loosely and got a little turned around but never too far from our ultimate destination. We were at the beach in about twenty minutes. The beach was kind of, well, perfect… for kids. It had swings, a playground, shelter house, and a bathroom. The beach itself, however, left us longing for something better. The water was a murky and shallow with water only half way to our knees for as far as one could walk out. Certainly nothing like the beaches of Clearwater and other local hot spots. Still, the idea of getting the kids exposure to the beach was what was more important. The beach was at low tide so there were many sand crabs left scurrying about looking for solace in their sandy confines. While Mindy and the kids walked the surf searching for shells and sea life, I napped on a bed sheet with my book all while soaking up some fading sunshine. Unfortunately, the sun spent more time behind clouds than it did in full view. To the west it was all but certain to storm. We didn’t stay all too long. By 2PM we were headed home. Glad we didn’t drive an hour or more. Back at the house we jumped in the pool, but almost as soon as we did a storm moved in. It rained for about half an hour. There was thunder and lightning too so we vacated the pool. Mindy took a nap. I entertained the kids. As we played the pool guy showed up and did his thing. When he finished the sun reappeared and subsequently the kids reentered the pool. Mindy got up too. We made an early dinner for the kids so that Mindy and I could cook steaks later. The kids were in bed by 8pm – just like home. Mindy and I made lots of pina coladas and began cooking steaks. Sadly the steaks purchased at Wal-Mart didn’t taste or smell that good. Bottom line, we fed $14 worth of steak to the turtles. Neither of us wanted to flirt with food poisoning. We ended up eating salads, fresh green beans, and hot dogs. And after a few more pina coladas we went to bed.

A Full Day in the Sun!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY! I woke many times through the night thinking each time that it must be time to get up. I wasn’t anxious to wake up however. I was feeling a little jet lag. The urge for sunshine swayed me otherwise and soon I was up and out of bed. It must have been about 8:00am. Mindy had told the kids that they couldn’t wake us until there was a ‘8’ on the clock. Unfortunately, Jacob reasoned that that could be any of the digits and not necessarily the first. You’ve gotta be on top of your game when it comes to kids! They work all the angles and are so literal. I found my tennis shoes, my vitamins, and the coffee makings. Soon, much like at home, I was exercising to sound and aroma of coffee brewing. I was excited for the day ahead. Jacob and Bella insisted on doing their exercises along side me. Soon everyone was up and about. I got the kids hooked up with some donuts and drinks. Our coffee was ready in the blink of an eye. I was happy for that. I made a cup with all the fixins’ for the both of us. The kids and I walked out onto the lanai, by the pool and out towards the pond to get a feel for the day. It was just as I remember Florida. – sunny, hot and steamy. After a couple cups of coffee and an hour of relaxation, I decided that I’d better get a run under my belt before the sun got to hot. I dawned my favorite running shorts and shoes and hit the road. The first day run of most vacations is always a special treat. It’s an adventure. I set out in no particular direction destined for no where specifically. Instead, my focus is simply to run until I fell I’ve run about 4 or 5 miles. It’s just that simple. I ran through the neighborhood and checked out many of the other homes. There are lots of beautiful homes and properties. Soon I wound my way out onto River Crossing Drive towards Little Av. I took the extra-wide walkway that passes by a few gated golf course communities. All very nice. Several large trees dotted the landscape and all of them were draped in Spanish moss – very cool! I ran until I came to an intersection I had not seen before. It was then that I realized I had run the opposite direction out of the sub-division. No biggie! On my return I decided to pass by a couple of new builds and peek inside since they were in “open stud”.status. They were nice but nothing too special. Soon I was back on Fall River Drive. I joined Mindy and the kids by the pool just as Mindy was fixing Bella’s hair for swimming. I learned later that Bella put up quite a fuss about getting her hair pool ready. Sorry I missed it! I jumped in the pool to cool off! A leisure day ahead. The rest of the morning and the bulk of the afternoon was spent poolside soaking up the sun, reading, applying with the kids. Mindy finished her list and readied for a trip to the local grocery to stock our shelves with food. The list was long! I was staying back with the kids. Mindy was out for around two hours. The sun was hot and the sky was blue. It was very satisfying to stay back with the kids and simply lounge around. We swam, played, and harassed one another quite nicely. Mindy was back home in time for lunch. I helped carry in all the groceries, and there were lots of them. We spent the remainder of the afternoon poolside and snacked on nuts and cheese. Later in the afternoon I went to the liquor store to get some raspberry vodka for me, some spiced rum and pina colada mix for Mindy. I also stopped in at Publix to get some whole milk and some swim goggles. When I returned I hurried to make myself a raspberry vodka, Fresca, with a twist of fresh lime. Soon we started dinner. We cooked salmon filets and a chicken breast on the large George Foreman grill that Craig has on the lanai. We had brussel sprouts and a salad to accompany the fish. After dinner we put the kids to bed so that we could enjoy a quiet evening together. Just as the kids went nighty-night we were attacked by a flock of very large Reddish Egrets. Those that know how large a blue heron is just multiply that times tow and you’ll get an idea of their size. They were aggressive too! I chased them with Craig’s papier-mâché’ Toucan. It was funny. The several vodka and Fresca’s I had already consumed didn’t hurt either. As the sun set Mindy and I took a stroll down by the pond/lake. We were checking out the aquatic marine life when we were attacked by a flock of turtles, which I originally thought were baby alligators due to their protruding eyes and long nose. They are Florida soft shells. After our stroll we took a number of pics and retired once again to the lanai where I made yet another tasty drink and grabbed my guitar for some poolside strumming. We hung out until about 11:30pm when we decided to call it a night and go to bed, but not to sleep.

Tampa Bound

And We're Off! Up at 6:38am making coffee and exercising. Ready to begin my day. updated sevral blog days although in a somewhat hurried & abreviated format Ran at 7:55am and took the senic Trabue Rd to Hague Ave then south to Wester Run route Back home at 8:25am. Mindy had already started breakfast and was on the deck reading Ate breakfast on the deck began fina lpacking and preparartions the nshowered Readied to deliver travel itinerary to Mindy's mom & to drop off Kaileigh's B-Day gift Placed sprinkler out front to water grass and flowers while out Gloria wasn't hoem so we left the itinerary with a note Kaileigh was home and was happy to see us. Lindsey showed up with Lil' Rocky shortly after we arrived. Visited with Shelly, Joey, & Kaileigh for about 1/2 an hour then headed back to my house. Returned. Mindy left for her home. I will pick her up at 1pm I watered all back and front flowers by hand for extra soaking. Loaded car with my packings Updated this blog and here I am! Talk to you from Tampa! Here we are at CMH internationanl Airport. After parking in the Blue lot 5 rows into the extended parking area, we loaded our 6 checked bags and 5 carry-ons into the parking shuttle. Quite a fiasco to say the least! We tipped the fine gentleman $5 for helping us with our bags. We rented a cart for $3 to aid in getting our load to the ticket counter. Thankfully, there was no line at the Delta counter. Problem!!! Despite repeated confirmation that Delta would be selling be a golf club box for my clubs, the fine folks at the ticket counter told me "sorry bout your luck". We don't have boxes. I asked what shall I do and the shrugged their shoulders and reminded me it was my problem. Frustrated I asked for clarification since i called not once but twice to confirm how to go about checking the clubs. They said, "sorry, should've called this counter" - which you can't! There solutio nwas to take my clubs back to my car. You've got to be kidding me! I asked ot speak with a manager. Enter Joe Farmer, Delta Custoemr Service mgr. Now Joe was a old guy that looked like he'd been around the block a few times, and we later learned with this very issue. He was a good listener and sought to find a solution, something the original rep, Becky was not willing to do. First, Joe tried selling me a travel case for the clubs at Delta's cost. I didn't bite. After all, If I were gonna buy one I would've wanted a selection. Instead, he offered to seek out a make shift golf club box and even asked competing airlines for boxes. We ended up making a real nice box out of two boxes, some garment bags, and tape. Problem averted. In the end we were assisted nicely but only after makingg a bit of a stink. Joe and Stephanie Ogden were very helpful. Becky was not. We'll focus on the positive and forget the bad! More later.... Tampa flight continued… Our flight was delayed by about 20 minutes due to our plane not arriving from Orlando until our scheduled departure time. We left somewhere just after 4pm instead of the planned 3:45pm. We took off to the west into a milky yet clear and steamy Columbus afternoon sky. Our plane was a rather small one – a CRJ40. It holds about half the seats as a 727 yet its top speed is just a fast. This was the only flight Bella remembers in her short life, although not her first. After all, how do you think that she got to Columbus from Guatemala? Both she and Jacob seemed to enjoy the view and the take-off. Service was surprisingly good given all the recent cut backs we hear of in the airline industry. It’s just a 2 hour flight so all I needed was something to drink. I opted for diet Coke. Lucky for me, I sat with Jacob. He wasn’t nearly s needy as was Bella. She asked for snacks, toys, and other diversions almost non-stop. Poor Mindy. The flight was moving swiftly through the southern states. When I pulled my laptop from its bag to draft this entry it was already 5:20pm. I had already snuck in a short nap too. Often when I make this flight, I can pretty much identify my whereabouts from landmarks which I’ve become very familiar, like the Ohio River and Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium, Lake Cumberland, KY. Smokey Mountains, I-75, Atlanta, Tallahassee, Fla., and the Gulf of Mexico. Today, however, I had trouble pinpointing our 20. At 5:45pm we began a descent. Jacob was beginning to bore quickly. And as he grew more and more bored, his behavior began to falter. At one point when he asked me how much longer (probably about he twenty fifth time :) and didn’t care for the 30 minute answer, he flung his tray table into the upright locking position thrusting his drink onto the floor. Not good! Tampa flight continued… Our flight was delayed by about 20 minutes due to our plane not arriving from Orlando until our scheduled departure time. We left somewhere just after 4pm instead of the planned 3:45pm. We took off to the west into a milky yet clear and steamy Columbus afternoon sky. Our plane was a rather small one – a CRJ40. It holds about half the seats as a 727 yet its top speed is just a fast. This was the only flight Bella remembers in her short life, although not her first. After all, how do you think that she got to Columbus from Guatemala? Both she and Jacob seemed to enjoy the view and the take-off. Service was surprisingly good given all the recent cut backs we hear of in the airline industry. It’s just a 2 hour flight so all I needed was something to drink. I opted for diet Coke. Lucky for me, I sat with Jacob. He wasn’t nearly s needy as was Bella. She asked for snacks, toys, and other diversions almost non-stop. Poor Mindy. The flight was moving swiftly through the southern states. When I pulled my laptop from its bag to draft this entry it was already 5:20pm. I had already snuck in a short nap too. Often when I make this flight, I can pretty much identify my whereabouts from landmarks which I’ve become very familiar, like the Ohio River and Cincinnati’s Paul Brown Stadium, Lake Cumberland, KY. Smokey Mountains, I-75, Atlanta, Tallahassee, Fla., and the Gulf of Mexico. Today, however, I had trouble pinpointing our 20. At 5:45pm we began a descent. Jacob was beginning to bore quickly. And as he grew more and more bored, his behavior began to falter. At one point when he asked me how much longer (probably about he twenty fifth time J) and didn’t care for the 30 minute answer, he flung his tray table into the upright locking position thrusting his drink onto the floor. Not good! Tampa – at last We landed at Tampa International airport just after 6pm EDT and quickly made our way to baggage claim and the car rental facility. We were renting with Enterprise, and of course they had the longest line. I’d have it no other way. We had a shit load of luggage. 6 checked pieces and about five carry-ons. Of the six checked, one was my golf clubs, and another my guitar, and another a care seat for Bella.. The mid-size car we rented was going to be difficult if not impossible to accommodate all of our bags. Chris, the outstanding attendant from Enterprise assisted us with our bags to the Nissan Sentra and quickly surmised that we would not get all of our luggage on board. As an act of outstanding customer service, Chris upgraded us to a brand-new SUV at no additional charge! Thanks Chris - You rock! That made a potentially disastrous experience into a very positive one. Onto New Port Richey! After $2 worth of tolls we found our way to Craig’s place in New Port Richey - 6044 Fall River Dr. We were very happy with the house. It’s in a beautiful neighborhood and finely furnished with 3 bedrooms, two baths, family room, living room, dining room, bar, fully screened in-ground pool, and a lanai. Very comfy! As soon as we got our gear in the house I set out for some fast food at Wendy’s and a few items to tie us over through morning like coffee & fixins’, donuts, chocolate milk, wine, Sam Adams, and apple juice. Back at the house we ate, drank, and then collapsed from a long day of preparation and travel.

Emergency Room Vacation

Finally Friday! Exercise, walk Ykraps, run early. Beautiful sunny summer morning Drove Trooper to work because I had to return the power washer Ken let me borrow Very busy - really! A VM from Dad- scared the begeesies out of me! Couldn't return call without mental prep - what possible bad news was looming on the other end? Called Tommy instead. He knew of nothing. Mustered strength to return the call. Dad soundly like in severe pain tells me that he can not be counted on to watch Sparky, flowers nad house, and will not be able to drive to airport tomorrow. Can't walk or move. Needs to go to the hospital. I told him to get his little ass in gear and plan on being over tomorrow to shuttle my ass around anyhow! NOT REALLY! I told him not to worry. That I'd figure something out, and that I'd leave work and take him to the hospital if necessary. He didn't feel necessary. more work, lunch with Jill Roberts at PF Changs Dad calls as I head back to work and says he needs to go to the hospital. I tell him no problem and that I'll be right there. I rush into the office inform my bosses boss (mine is out- his father had a stroke). Pack, leave for Dad's. Dad calls and says he can't wait and has already called 911. I tell him that I'll meet him at the hospital. Drop laptop home - go by dad's - he's not there as expected. to hospital Find dad all hunched over in a wheel chair in the hospital emergency room - he looked pathetic and helpless! Scary thought! Not my big strong Dad! Nurse screams "Glenn Wright"! Triage, Triage, Triage. ten minutes later he's taken back to be examined. I follow. Nurse Courtney examines him. pushes and prods all his parts. Believes it to be Cyatica, a buldging disc, or some other joint issue and perhaps aggravated by his ongoing arthritus. Soon Sheila and Margie arrive. They had just completed a 15 hr work day and looked like it - very tired. 5:15pm - Releasing dad with narcotic prescription for pain. I drive home. Ashley, Mindy arrive. Ashley will be house sitting. I review plant care instructions and such. She leaves soon after. Mindy and I go to Barley's. Hang with Bob and Mary Ann as well as others. We had fun. They are a really good time. mary Ann just bought a new Ford Escape. It's red & grey with leather interior - nice! Home - 11-ish ??? not certain :) no worries

Linzy Gets the Honda

Thursday - a very summery day I drove the BM'er to work - the work day was VERY busy but only one day left until vacation Borrowed a co-workers hard shell guitar case for travel run without a shirt Mindy takes Lindsey to get the title and tags for the Honda Home - Mindy and the kids come over I cut the lawn - Wack, Edge, Blow, and cut. Gave kids a ride on the tractor We had wings on the deck - fun! Very family like Brian Groth stops by to talk sprinkler systems - fireman Takes me to neighbors yard wher he's just finishing up - very crafty work wants me to consider him if I choose to do the sprinkler system Mindy and Kids depart I trim shrubs - water front flowers good Bed

Pizza and more work on my deck

Wednesday, written but left behind at work. Today the weather's supposed to more closely resemble summer. Bring it on! Work very busy Run good Mindy Wednesday - was planning to cut the lawn but had to alter those plans The new deck boards I had laid were not completely screwed and were already shrinking and bending, cupping, and twisting. I had no choice but to screw them down securely. Also, Lindsey, Ashley, and lil' Rocky made a guest appearance. We ordered pizza and spent about an hour together.

Waaahhh!

I slept like a baby! I’d sleep for about an hour, wake up and cry, go back to sleep for another hour, wake up and cry, etc, etc. Not really. I slept like a rock! I didn’t even stir during the night, or if I did, I don’t remember doing so. I woke at 6:06am – late! Not to worry though. I wasn’t at all concerned. I told myself to just take my time and do my usual routine. I am far happier when I am not rushed. The sun was just about to rise as I whizzed through my exercise routine. And by the time I had walked Ykraps and settled down for some coffee, it was already 6:30am, the time I generally begin making my breakfast and lunch. Again, not to worry. I enjoyed my coffee and even retrieved my camera to take some pictures of the deck basking in the sunlight. By the time I had finished packing my lunch and cooking and eating my breakfast, it was 7:20am. But before heading towards the shower, I added the pictures which I had already picked and edited for my weekend blog entries. That put me in the shower at 7:30am, or about the time I usually leave the house. I showered and primped quickly but not too fast. I decided to wear my contacts today too. I hadn’t worn them since the “Moisture Lock” scare. But with vacation approaching I want to be able to wear my sun glasses and read at the same time, plus, I need to allow my nose to rest. The bridge of my nose is a little sore from my glasses resting on them so much. I ended up leaving the house just before 8:00am. I arrived to work just a little behind schedule but in plenty of time to get involved in the day’s early events. I worked hard through the morning, right up until about 11:30am when a peer walked in my office and asked if I was going to go to the 12noon training. Ahh ...yeah – of course! I hurriedly gathered my things, including my gym bag and headed off to the mandatory training. I would have to postpone my run until about 330pm when the training’s slated to end. Too, I’d likely forego lunch until at least after my run and likely all together. There’s nothing worse than sitting in a training class with a belly full of food and no run done. I’d be asleep like that! The training just about put me to sleep. Thankfully it wrapped up a bit early. I headed directly to the gym and without passing go. The weather was superb for running. It was about 73 and partly cloudy/sunny. When I returned from my run it was already 4:15pm. Just another 45 minutes and the day would be over. I decided to pass on lunch except for eating three slices of turkey. Mindy was making dinner tonight and I wanted to be sure and be hungry for that. I left he office just after 5pm and made a quick stop at Home Depot where I planned to have an extra key made for Craig’s vacation home in Florida. Apparently having keys made after work is a hot item! There must have been four of us al converged on the key machine. The new key making machines are almost completely full proof. Even a five year old could do it. I was out of there in a matter of minutes, despite the crowd. I told Mindy that my best guess for an arrival was between 630 & 700pm. I’ve learned that trying to be sooner only serves to get me flustered. She hoped that I’d be there closer to 630pm though. But I understand, her and the kids are used to eating earlier. At home I rushed through my chores so that I could have a little time to try my buddy Ken’s power washer on the deck. It wasn’t powerful enough to clean concrete but my internet research indicated that its 1300 psi would be plenty for the deck. I wasn’t so sure. But, after hooking it up and trying it out, it seems to do a pretty good job. The boards that straddle each side of the new stuff looked much worse since now they’re residing by brand new stuff. They are the dirtiest and most weathered since they typically have planters resting on them therefore staying wet a great deal of the summer. The power washer removed most of the grime and dirt. It also removed the tannin from the stucco where the decking boards butt firmly against. I didn’t have time to do a thorough job but all the areas I hit looked decent. I’ll know better once it dries. But unfortunately, I won’t likely have time to do a good job until I return from vacation. It was 6:30pm. I had to ready for Mindy’s. She was expecting me soon. I still had to get gas too since I was running on fumes. I called to let her know that I was close once Wal-Mart was within my sights. As I pumped my gas and watched the total pass $50, I could only shake my head in frustration. When it was all said and done, I had spent $56 on 20 gallons even. I was bone dry! I made it to Mindy’s by 6:57pm. The kids were waiting on the porch. For dinner we were having what’s known in the Thompson household as hodge-podge (leftovers). We had brats, Italian sausage, cheese burgers, pork chops, green beans, and calamari. The calamari was freshly made, and a recipe out of the Adkins book. Everything was gooooood! Well, accept for the calamari – sorry Princess! Realistically, that’s the first thing she’s made that didn’t turn out so well. We both agreed that we’d keep calamari on the dine-out menu. So far, no one’s calamari compares to Tucci’s. Try it! After dinner Jacob and I threw the baseball in the back yard. I wanted to walk to the pond but Mindy really didn’t want to since it would get us back after the kids usual bed time and she knew better than I that they were showing the tell tale signs of being tired. So, bath time it was. I helped a little but mostly tormented the kids through the bathing process. Soon they were both in their jammies. They asked for a story. I pulled them both together to kill two birds with one stone. I’ve gotten wise. I made up a story about Jack & Jill and the two-headed green monster in the forest. Not sure they liked it much, but it was fun. They were in their beds with blinds pulled and lights out by 8:30pm. Mindy and I spent the next half hour or so sitting on the front porch watching her neighbors toil in their yards. This is the kind of subdivision where they cut the grass even when it doesn’t look like it needs it. They even have big expensive riding mowers for their postage stamp yards. Ahh, the suburbs! We then went in and sat on the couch for another half hour before I left for home. I didn’t end up leaving until about 9:45pm. I was home by 10pm. I played around on the PC and then played some guitar before going to bed. I went to bed just after 10:30pm and read until I fell asleep just before 11pm.

Is That Snow in the Forecast?

A window to my world Mailbox in costume I didn’t want to deprive myself of sleep, thus I slept a little later than my usual 5:30am rise time. And after consuming oodles of carbs and a mountain of chocolate the day before, I was feeling a bit strange. This was a Monday, and like most others, it was a bit of a struggle to muster the motivation necessary to fire on all cylinders, but eventually I did. The weather was forecasted to begin a slow return to normalcy beginning with today. Temps are expected to rise into the seventies with a fair amount of sunshine. Thank God! I can only tolerate so much crappy weather. A cool cloudy weekend is a bitter pill to swallow. After all, we only get so many of these to enjoy. To begin the day it was necessary to wear a jacket. Yep, you heard it right – it’s the frikin’ middle of June and I’ve got to wear a jacket to feel comfortable walking Ykraps! Aside from the chilly start, at least we had some sunshine to begin the day. I was ready to leave the house destined for work at 7:40am. I was a little behind, but … it’s better to be a little behind rather than a big ass! J I’ll spare you the drama of typical Monday, and instead proceed through my day. I left for my run at 1pm with a sky full of puffy clouds despite a forecast predicting otherwise. It was an easy run because the temperature was still fairly cool. My afternoon went pretty quick, just as one would expect of a busy day. I left work just before 5pm hoping to get a jump on the evening. I thought that I might steal a nap as soon as I got home but didn’t. Instead, after walking Ykraps I got started on my deck project pronto! Mindy was due over and she was bringing T-Bone steaks to cook on the grill. But for the time being, I was focused on the deck. I had seven more boards to attach and trim to fit. Aside form that, I had a hell of a mess from the seventeen old bards to process. I kept working at a good clip even after Mindy arrived. While I worked on the deck, Mindy checked out pictures on the PC. I called for her assistance a couple of times as I needed that third hand to help remove a slight bow in a board or two. With three left to go I popped up and took a break long enough to ignite the grill. Soon the grill was hot and the steaks were on. They didn’t take much time to cook either. During their cooking, I managed to get two more boards attached and trimmed. That left only the final board which would have to be ripped. I saved that for after dinner. The steaks were better than good. They were delicious! After dinner I set out to finish up the last board. I needed Mindy’s assistance to help support the 16’ board as I marked then ripped about 1.5 inches from its girth. I’ve learned the hard way that you want to rip it to fit the first time. Any additional micro trimming that becomes necessary leaves the cut edge looking amateurish. I was doing my ripping with a circular saw, not a table saw. When it was completed, the board didn’t easily rest into the slot. It seemed a tad wide, but it was extremely close. I decided to see if it would settle with a little guided force. Lucky for me it did. I went all along the edges with a block and a sledge to ensure it was resting snuggly against the joists. After setting it, I realized I would have to re-raise it to cut the angle at the steps. Crap! Turned out OK, though. Mindy helped clean up the mess left over form the job. She also insisted that we take the time now to cut up the old decking boards so that they can be stowed neatly until such a time that I can easily dispose of them. It took us an additional 15 minutes to do that job. What’s left is going back over and placing decking screws in all of the joists. Cool! After we finished, it was well past Mindy’s usual departure time. As she gathered her things to leave, Pat Schultz showed up for a visit. After a quick hello, Mindy hit the door. Pat stayed behind. We visited for about 30 minutes. Pat shared a story about one of his sons being involved in a recent pedestrian/car accident. I had actually heard the accident discussed on the radio last Friday. Well, as it turns out, it was Pat’s son, Jake. He hit a girl crossing the street in front of the high school. Lucky for him, it wasn’t his fault and there were plenty of witnesses to support his side – including one of the school principals. After Pat left I went upstairs and took a quick shower to wash away the sweat and sawdust. I spent the next hour or so updating my blog from the weekend. It was then that I retreated to my bed, did some reading, and then went to sleep.

All Hands On Deck

Happy 72nd Gloria! I didn’t sleep quite as late as I did Saturday morning, but still a little later than usual. I found my way downstairs just before 8am. The sunny skies I was hopeful to find were noticeably missing once again, although the chance of rain was minimal. Without wasting too much time, I began carrying out my exercises as soon as I had made some coffee and choked down a vitamin. I was a tad stiff from the physical abuse of ripping up decking boards the day before. But thanks to Mindy’s skillful hands and my anti-inflammatories, my back and shoulders were feeling fine. Soon Ykraps and I were outside relieving ourselves and getting a feel for the day’s weather. I was hopeful that the sun would be breaking through as originally forecasted, but a recent revision says not. Instead, we’re supposed to be cloud covered most of the day with high’s only reaching 65. Are you frikin’ kidding me! After enjoying two full cups of coffee I readied for a run. I didn’t want to get too late of start given the day’s somewhat aggressive agenda. I left for my run at 9:31am. I was hovering somewhere near 56 degrees. It was a tad chilly! I finished my run at 10:04am – 33 minutes for 4.1 miles. Not bad. I wasted little time once I was done. By 10:30am I was on my way to Home Depot to find the lumber I needed to fix the trim around my door. A fix for the door jam itself will have to wait. I made the HD trip a fast one. In lieu of buying an expensive 8’ rough sawn cedar 1x12 and wasting 5’ of it, I bought an 8’ 1x6”. I’d just double up on the width and it’ll be fine. On my way out I grabbed a pack of AA energizers since I am all out at home. I was back home just after 11:00am and ready to get started. I planned to work right up until 2:30pm when I would have to go in to finish frosting the brownies and ready for Mindy’s house. The first thing I did was cut and mount the 1x6” board. That was fairly easy. The hard part was splicing the joist with limited space. There’s not enough room for a drill or a hammer for that matter. So, I predrilled eight holes through the scab 2x8” x2’ (four on each side of the seam). Then I placed 3.5 inch spikes in each of holes. With the side of my 8lb sledge I was able to muster just enough space to drive them in. M arms ached a lot when done. Next, I carried nine of the seventeen decking boards from the garage to the deck working my way around the massive pile of old deck carnage. I started on the bay window side meaning that there’d be an angular cut at each end of the boards – one at the bay window and another at the octagon shaped. I had an existing small piece of treated lumber with the rough angle already precut for the bay window side. I used it as a template to achieve the proper angle. I then slid the boards up to the stucco to check for accuracy then backed it off a quarter inch. The first time I installed the decking I butted it right up against the stucco. Ultimately, I think that helped contribute to some splitting and curling on the ends, not to mention some bleeding of the woods tannin onto the stucco. Using the existing decking as a lateral guide, I simply had to begin securing the boards with decking screws. Of course few boards are perfectly square so most require a Little persuasion in at least a spot or two. For the time being I allowed the step end to hang over the edge. After mounting three pieces I would snap a line of chalk then cut them off with my circular saw. That worked flawlessly. I carried on with the same process for the next 2.5 hours. A couple of times I had to fight with a decking board to get it snug against the other but all in all it went as planned. In those situations I could’ve used a third hand. Before calling it a day, I carried the remaining boards onto the deck and put them in place. A couple of things to note, I was careful this time to inspect the grain and rings carefully so to place the side prone to cupping face down. The first time I used the “prettiest” side up as the first choice in the process. That wasn’t wise. All of these boards are knotless since I spent the extra money for premium decking. Still, all wood will split and cup if you install it improperly. To my dismay, once all the boards were laying in place (only nailed screwed in) it was apparent that I’ll have to rip about 1.5 inches off of the last one. There’s no getting around it. These decking boards must be about a 16th of an inch wider than their predecessors. I know this for sure. They’re definitely installed tightly against one another. My guess is that because they come injected with water repellant, they are a bit swollen. A time check revealed that it was pushing 2:30pm. I had to get moving. I put all my tools away then swept the fragments of dirt from the kitchen floor. Just as I was getting ready to head up for a shower I saw that those damn geese were roosting in my back yard again (about 25 of them). This didn’t sit too well with me. You should see all the shit and feathers spread all over the back half of my yard. It’s almost unuseable. I grabbed my bb gun and took a few shots from about 150’. I missed as usual, but managed to rile them up a bit. I moved further into the yard as they entered the water. I pumped the gun about four times and took a shot from my hips with out aim. Next thing I know one of the geese starts swimming in circles frantically. I didn’t even think that I had hit one, but apparently I had. Next, he stuck his head down under water and left it there. Weird! Three others began circling back around him honking fiercely as if they were mourning. He laid there still all the while his head under water. I was overcome with sadness temporarily. I mean, heck, I certainly don’t want to hurt them, but I also don’t want them shitting in my yard. Trust me, it’s worse than any dog! I went back inside and took my shower all the while wondering what came of that hapless goose. Before getting my shower I finished frosting the brownies and then topped them with some magic shell chocolate, powered cocoa, and caramel/chocolate chips. I also cut the fudge I’d made the night before into chunks and put them in a nice little travel container I saved from Mitchell’s. After my shower I gathered all of my goodies and my camera and set out for Mindy’s. I was ahead of schedule by about 15 minutes. I knew that Mindy would appreciate me showing up a little early so that I could get the grill going. I arrived around 3:45pm. Once again, the kids greeted me at the driveway, and so did Mindy. She helped carry in my goodies and gear. Mindy’s mom, the guest of honor, was there too. She had come home with Mindy immediately after church. With out much hesitation, I got busy with the grill. We had 20 brats (8 hot & 12 not), 8 burgers, and 8 hot dogs to be cooked. Soon each of Mindy’s siblings began arriving. Before long she had a mini house full. The spread looked great. In addition to the meat, we had her sister’s famous dirty rice, a cheese tray, potato salad, chips, veggie tray, and fruit tray. Everyone filled up. The presentation was as good as the food itself. It really looked nice. After our meal we sang Happy B-Day to Gloria and Jeff and then enjoyed some cake. As the evening wore on Mindy’s siblings began to leave. At the same time, Jacob and Bella asked if I would walk them to the park. I did. It was a little chilly but not too bad. We were gone for about twenty minutes. Upon our return, Jacob asked me to pitch to him. I did. After hitting we played some catch. By then all of the family members had gone and it was just the five of us. After a little play time it was time for the children to get ready for bed. As they normally do, the children asked me to read them a story. I decided to read Bella a pretend book and proceeded to tell her the Three Bears story. She liked it! Jacob wanted to do the seek & find book, so we did. It was after 8:30pm once the kids were completely settled. Where did the weekend go? It went unbelievably fast to be sure. Plus, I had eaten so much chocolate today that I thought that I might come out of my skin. I was wired! While we sat and talked on the sofa, Mindy was kind enough to give me a foot massage. While doing so she found a splinter in the arch of my foot and immediately went into surgical mode. 10:00pm came around quick. Soon it was time to go home. I had to walk Ykraps since he hadn’t been out since around 8:00am. I was home by 10:30pm and instantly took Ykraps on a walk out back. I took my new flashlight along to see if I got spot that goose from early. He was no longer lingering in the same area of the pond. Not sure what came of him/her. Afterwards I returned inside for a little guitar playing and the down loading of the days pictures. It was fun! Then, before going to sleep I did some reading. I didn’t fall asleep until almost midnight.